After being accused of stealing the Royal Crown, the Count refused to confess and name the location of the priceless artifact. Enraged, the King threatened to put the good Count to death if he would not budge. Pleading, begging, asking for mercy, the Count insisted upon his innocence. Finally, the King ordered the executioner to lower the death axe.
As the hatchet descended, the Count cried “OK! I confess! The Crown is..” But it was too late to pull back. The blade descended and the severed head fell with a thud into the receptacle with the end of the sentence forever a mystery.
Moral of the story: Don’t hatchet your Counts before they chicken.